Mineral winning machines

ABSTRACT

A mineral winning machine composed of a frame slidably guided in gantry-fashion on a conveyor and a carriage displaceably supported within a guideway at the top of the frame. The separation between the carriage and guideway tapers to permit the carriage to move from side-to-side in a horizontal plane under the action of two piston and cylinder units. The carriage supports an arm pivoted to swing in a vertical plane under the action of a further piston and cylinder unit and two rotatable cutting cylinders are disposed on a shaft at the end of the arm. Each cutting cylinder is of cage like construction and formed from two axially offset rings adjoined to the shaft by radial spokes and interconnected by transverse webs. The rings and webs carry cutter bits and during use, mineral detached from a face can pass into the interior of the cutting device to be subsequently thrown out into a conveyor by the movement of the webs.

United States Patent [191 Mennekes et al.

[54] MINERAL WINNING MACHINES [76] Inventors: Werner Mennekes,Weidenkamp 23, 4628 Altlunen; Heinz Weinhold, Wildenbruchstrasse 14, 465Gelsenkitchen, both of Germany 22 Filed: Dec.-30, 1970 21 Appl.No.:102,756

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 7, 1970 Germany ..P 20 00370.7

- [52] U.S. Cl ..299/43, 299/89 [51] Int. Cl ..E21c 25/06 [58] Field ofSearch ..299 /4254, 72, 299/75,'64, 67, 87, 89

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3 ,3 14,723 4/1967 Mennekes..299/43 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,284,617 H1962 France ..299/75[451 Jan. 16, 1973 Primary Examiner-Ernest R. Purser Att0rneyRoberts,Cushman & Grover 57 ABSTRACT A mineral winning machine composed of aframe slidably guided in gantry-fashion on a conveyor and a carriagedisplaceably supported within a guideway at the top of the frame. Theseparation between the carriage and guideway tapers to permit thecarriage to move from side-to-side in a horizontal plane under theaction of two piston and cylinder units. The carriage supports an armpivoted to swing in a vertical plane under the action of a furtherpiston and cylinder unit and two rotatable cutting cylinders aredisposed on a shaft at the end of the arm. Each cutting cylinder is ofcage like construction and formed from two axially offset rings adjoinedto the shaft by radial spokes and interconnected by transverse webs. Therings and webs carry cutter. bits and during use, mineral detached froma face can pass into the interior of the cutting device to'besubsequently thrown out into a conveyor by the movement of the webs.

PATENTEU JAN 1 8 I975 VIIIIIIII'I" lNVE-NTORS w ERN ER MENNEKES HEINZWEIN HOLD ATTORNEYS MINERAL WINNING MACHINES BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a mineral winning machine and ,to amining installation employing such a machine.

In large mine workings, for mining of coal for example, it is oftennecessary to detach coal separately from short sections of the coalface. This would be a requirement, for example, in the driving of basicroadways or in situations where the use of normal winning machines isprecluded. In such cases, short-face winning machines have already beenproposed which are guided in gantry-fashion on a conveyor lyingalongside the coal face. These machines are normally provided with twocutting cylinders mounted on a pivotable arm. After the cutter cylindershave initially entered into the coal face, the coal can be detached fromthe face, by moving the machine along the conveyor, and at the same timethe coal can be loaded into the conveyor.

upper side of the'frame, the separation between the guideway and thecarriage tapering to allow the carriage to be displaced to move the armfrom side-to-side in a horizontal plane. In this way, without theconveyor itself being shifted, the cutting devices can be driven intothe coal face and thereafter the machine can be moved along the conveyorso that a smooth cut surface extending parallel with the conveyor isobtained. By moving the arm from one side to the other the inclinationof the shaft carrying the cutting devices can be varied and thismovement is achieved without the provision of a special vertical pivotbolt which was hitherto the case.

In order not to impair the free outflow of the coal from the cuttingdevices, it is advisable for the conveyor to have a guide rail disposedon its coal face side on which members depending from the machine frameThe pivotability of the arm allows the arm to swing in a vertical planeand hence the cutter cylinder can win coal over the entire face.

The arm carrying the cutting cylinders can additionally be movable in ahorizontal plane so that both cutting cylinders can participate in thedetaching work for each direction of movement of the machine.

The action of the cutting cylinders tends to reduce the detached coal tofine particles and the efficient removal of the detached coal is alwaysa problem with machines ofthe aforementioned kind.

A general object of the invention is to provide an improved machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a machine of the aforementioned kind theinvention provides that each cutting cylinder be composed of axiallyoffset rings interconnected by means of separate'transverse webs andconnected to the shaft by means of separate radial spokes. This cagelike construction of the cutting devices ensures that detached mineral,e.g., coal, can pass into the interior of the devices. The coal canenter the interior of the devices from between the spokes and betweenthe webs. It is found that as the devices rotate the coal present in thedevices is propelled backwards by the webs and can enter a conveyor.

In other'aspects the inventionprovides a mineral mining installationcomprising:

a conveyor extending alongside a mineral face,

a mineral'winning machine having a frame slidably supported ingantry-fashion on the conveyor for movement therealong, said machineadditionally including an arm pivoted to said frame to swing in avertical plane, a shaft disposed at the end of said arm, and rotatablecutting devices mounted on said shaft, each cutting device beingcomposed of guided for movement in a guideway formed at the slidablyengage. These members are preferably pivotable about vertical axes.Proper guidance of the machine is thus ensured even when the guide railhas inclined sections.

The invention may be understood more readily and various other featuresof the invention may become more apparent from consideration of thefollowing description. T

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS An embodiment of the invention will now bedescribed, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings wherein: v

FIG. 1 is a lateral elevation of a mining installation taken in thelongitudinal direction of the conveyor;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the installation shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows diagrammatically the pivotability of the carriage carryingthe cutter devices of the winning machine of the installation shown inFIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a crosssection taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3, and i g yFIG. 5 is a cross-section taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in the drawing, a mininginstallation has a' conveyor 11 disposed in front of a coal face I0 tobe won. A mine roof support assembly of known kind is shown on the sideof the conveyor 11 remote from the face 10. A coal winning machine 13has a frame 12 which is supported in gantry-fashion on the conveyor II.On the side of the conveyor 11- facing the coal face a ramp plate isarranged which carries at its upper edge a guide rail 15 conveniently oftubular form. The frame I2 of the winning machine 13 is guided fordisplacement on the rail 15 in the direction of the longitu dinal axisof the conveyor 11 by means of slidable.

members 17 which engage the rail and which are pivotable about verticalpivot pins 18. The frame 12 is also supported and guided fordisplacement in a guideway 16 disposed on the opposite side of theconveyor ll.

The machine frame 12 carries at the upper end a guideway 19 forsupporting and guiding a movable carriage 20. As is depicted in FIGS. 3to 5, the carriage 20 is wider at itsend 20' remote from the coal face10 than at its opposite end 20". Thus, at its rear end20' the carriage20 is guided within the guideway 19 with only slight clearance inrespectthereof whereas at the other end 20" the clearance is muchgreater. As a result of this, the carriage 20 can pivot in a horizontalplane from side to side in relation to the guideway 19, independently ofits displacement towardsand away from the coal face and independently ofthe movement of the machine 13 along the conveyor 11 This side-tosidepivoting is achieved without the necessity of a pivot bolt and thenecessary displacement of the carriage within the guide 19 is effectedby means of two piston and cylinder units 21 and 22. Thus, if thecarriage 20 is'to pivot from one side to the other side in thehorizontal direction, then the units 21, 22 are fed with pressurefluidin the appropriate manner and this can be effected independently offorward movement of the carriage 20 towards the face 10 orsimultaneously with such a movement. 7

The carriage 20 is provided with an arm 23 pivoted to swing in avertical plane on a horizontal spindle. The arm 23 can be displaced in avertical swinging movement by means of a piston and cylinder units 24,in order to win coal at the lower or upper regions of the face 10.

At the outermost end of the arm 23, two cutting devices or cylinders 27and 28 are fitted on a common shaft extending outwardly from both sidesof the arm 23. The arm 23 is preferably formed as a hollow piece part sothat it can also serve as a gearbox for the gearing used for driving thecylinders 27,28.

Each cutting cylinder 27,28 is composed of an external ring 29 and asmaller internal ring 30 situated on the inner side of the ring 29.These rings 29,30 are connected with one another by means of separatetransverse webs 31 distributed over the periphery of the cylinder 27,28and radial spokes 32 support the cylinders 27,28 on the common shaft.The spokes 32 and webs 31 may be formed integrally. The rings 29,30 andwebs 31 are formed with teeth or cutter bits and during use of thewinning machine coal can enter the interior of .the I cutter cylinders27,28 from the ends, i.e.,

. through the spokes 32, or from the periphery, i.e.,

through the webs As the cutter cylinders 27,28 rotate, coal which hasentered into the cylinders 27,28 is projected outwardly to the rear bythe movement of the webs 31. Thus the coal can be constantly moved ofthis the coal is detached from the face 10 in relative- 1y small piecesso that it is more suitable to be passed through the interior of thecutter cylinders 27,28 and into the conveyor 11. 7

We claim:

1. A mineral winning machine comprising a frame, a carriage guided formovement in a guideway formed at the upper side of the frame with aseparation between the guideway and carriage which tapers to allow thecarriage to be displaced relative to the guideway to move the carriagefrom side to side in a horizontal plane, an arm pivoted at one end tothe carriage to swing in a vertical plane, a shaft mounted at the distalendof the arm transversely thereof, and rotatable cutting devicesmounted at the opposite'ends of the shaft, each cutting devicecomprising axially offset rings interconnected by means of separatetransverse webs and connected to the shaft by means of separate radialspokes.

2. A machine according to claim 1, further comprising two piston andcylinder units for displacing the carriage relative to the guideway.

3. A machine according to claim 2, further comprising a piston andcylinder unit for movingsaid arm.

4 A machine according to claim 1, wherein cutter bits are provided onthe rings and on the transverse webs.

5. A' machine according to claim 1, wherein the spokes and the webs arealigned radially of the shaft.

formed at the upper side of the frame, an armpivoted to said carriage toswing in a vertical plane, a separation between the guideway and thecarriage which tapers to allow the carriage to be displaced to move thearm from side to side in a horizontal plane, a shaft disposed at thefree end of the arm and rotatable cutting devices mounted on said shaft,each cutting device being composed of axially-offset ringsinterconnected by separate transverse webs and connected to said shaftby separate radial spokes.

8. An installation according to claim 7, wherein the conveyor has aguide rail disposed on the mineral face side thereof and the frame hasmembers which s lidably engage the guide rail, the members being pivotalrelative to .the'frame about vertical axes.

a: 4- as a

1. A mineral winning machine comprising a frame, a carriage guided formovement in a guideway formed at the upper side of the frame with aseparation between the guideway and carriage which tapers to allow thecarriage to be displaced relative to the guideway to move the carriagefrom side to side in a horizontal plane, an arm pivoted at one end tothe carriage to swing in a vertical plane, a shaft mounted at the distalend of the arm transversely thereof, and rotatable cutting devicesmounted at the opposite ends of the shaft, each cutting devicecomprising axially offset rings interconnected by means of separatetransverse webs and connected to the shaft by means of separate radialspokes.
 2. A machine according to claim 1, further comprising two pistonand cylinder units for displacing the carriage relative to the guideway.3. A machine according to claim 2, further comprising a piston andcylinder unit for moving said arm.
 4. A machine according to claim 1,wherein cutter bits are provided on the rings and on the transversewebs.
 5. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the spokes and the websare aligned radially of the shaft.
 6. A machine according to claim 1,wherein the inner ring nearest the arm is of smaller diameter than theouter ring.
 7. A mineral winning installation comprising a conveyorextending alongside a mineral face, a mineral winning machine having aframe, means for slidabLy mounting the frame in gantry-fashion on theconveyor for movement therealong, said machine further comprising acarriage guided for movement in a guideway formed at the upper side ofthe frame, an arm pivoted to said carriage to swing in a vertical plane,a separation between the guideway and the carriage which tapers to allowthe carriage to be displaced to move the arm from side to side in ahorizontal plane, a shaft disposed at the free end of the arm androtatable cutting devices mounted on said shaft, each cutting devicebeing composed of axially-offset rings interconnected by separatetransverse webs and connected to said shaft by separate radial spokes.8. An installation according to claim 7, wherein the conveyor has aguide rail disposed on the mineral face side thereof and the frame hasmembers which slidably engage the guide rail, the members being pivotalrelative to the frame about vertical axes.